Set between emerald hills on the Himalayan plateau, some 3,700 metres above sea level, Yushu’s annual equine festival is billed as a showcase of Chinese government support for Tibetan culture.

Tibetans ride horses in traditional dress, showing their skills at a local government sponsored festival in Yushu, in the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai.(AFP)

As Tibetan riders waved rifles and dug cowboy-booted feet into their horses’ flanks, hanging sideways from their mounts, tourists and locals cheered and snapped pictures on digital cameras and smartphones.

Set between emerald hills on the Himalayan plateau, some 3,700 metres above sea level, Yushu’s annual equine festival is billed as a showcase of Chinese government support for Tibetan culture.

Women were draped in their finest jewellery, wearing beads of turquoise, yellow amber and red coral over flower-patterned traditional dresses known as chuba. Monks in crimson robes flitted through the crowds.

But beyond the imagery, the festival also displayed the impact of both modernisation and Beijing’s rule on the region, which Chinese forces occupied in 1951.

The festival held since the 1990s lasts for five days. It was suspended for several years in 2010 following an earthquake in Yushu that killed about 2,700 people.
(AFP)

Their forces were crushed after the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959.

Herders had their guns confiscated, but the weapons made a comeback in tourist displays at the five-day event, which saw male riders competing in speed races and trotting competitions.

Participants wait to perform at the Yushu festival.
(AFP)

The festival was suspended for several years following a major earthquake which ravaged Yushu in 2008, killing some 2,700 people.

As part of reconstruction, authorities built a horse-racing stadium with concrete stands and plastic seating to host the festival’s opening ceremony.

Local Communist officials control the event, determining who races, sponsoring travel costs for riders and archers from rural counties, and handing out cash prizes to winners.

“I am deciding who competes,” explained a woman from China’s Han ethnic majority, who works for Yushu’s official sports bureau. “It’s my third year, we organise a lot of activities.”

This woman, like several others, is draped in her finest jewellery, wearing beads of turquoise, yellow amber and red coral over flower-patterned traditional dresses, that are known as chuba.
(AFP)

There are still sporadic outbursts against Chinese rule in Yushu, with five locals setting themselves on fire since 2012, according to rights groups, among more than 140 such protests by Tibetans, most of them fatal.

Dozens of paramilitary policemen guarded the festival, while a group of orange-suited firefighters patrolled with foam extinguishers.

“In recent years the government has been controlling Tibetans more tightly. For example, we are limited in gathering together for activities,” said one young Tibetan sipping beer on the festival sidelines, asking not to be named.

“This is a government event,” he added. “They are organising it so it’s considered safe.”

Flowing hair

Local authorities tout the festival as a source of tourist revenue for the area, which has few other sources of growth. Many Han Chinese see Kham as a mysterious and romantic region.